Mrs. Potts
Mrs. Potts is a supporting character in Disney's 1991 animated feature film, Beauty and the Beast. She is the castle's head housekeeper who was transformed into an enchanted teapot once the Enchantress placed her curse. Background Mrs. Potts was the head housekeeper of a spoiled prince's castle, and the mother of several children, the most notable being Chip, who is found by her side at almost every instant. When the prince encounters and insults a powerful enchantress, Mrs. Potts is transformed into a sentient object, a teacup, along with the rest of her colleagues, while the Prince is transformed into a monstrous beast. Personality Intelligent, level-headed, and self-righteous, Mrs. Potts is perhaps the most reliant member of the Beast's staff. Being a mother, she can be very gentle and nurturing, while also being stern and no-nonsense. Unlike Lumière and Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts lacks troublesome quirks and acts as the voice of reason amongst her colleagues. Though she fears his violent outbursts, Mrs. Potts' stern attitude also has a strong effect on the Beast, who appears to respect his head housekeeper the most out of all his servants—he has even been shown to occasionally snap out of his violent tantrums when she confronts him on his behavior. Furthermore, Mrs. Potts apparently fears the Beast the least, as she won't hesitate to disobey one of his strict orders if it means caring for someone in need, such as Belle; another example of her nurturing nature and selflessness. As mentioned above, Mrs. Potts is very gentle, and often times, soft-spoken. With great patience, she treats the notion of "falling in love" as an extremely delicate and sensitive matter, unlike Lumière, who initially believed Belle and Beast could fall in love and break the spell in a mere few hours. Though the wilting of the rose was dire and unabating, Mrs. Potts saw it crucial that the relationship between Belle and Beast was given proper development, specifically in terms of getting the latter to obtain greater control of his temper by establishing himself as a gentleman, despite his roughish appearance. She was also highly sympathetic towards Belle; while Cogsworth was initially peeved by her reluctance to join the Beast for dinner (despite his rather ill attempt to ask politely), Mrs. Potts openly turned her frustration towards the Beast's explosive temper, feeling it was unfair to expect Belle to cooperate when the Beast allows his aggression to control his actions, on top of the fact that she had lost her father and freedom merely moments prior. Trivia * Mrs. Potts' husband has never been revealed in animated canon. In the 2017 live-action movie, her husband, Jean Potts, is a major character. In the novel As Old as Time (A Twisted Tale), her husband is identified as Alaric Potts, the former stable-master and an old friend of Maurice, who was killed by his anti-magic friend Frederique before the curse was cast. * A teapot resembling Mrs. Potts is seen in the ABC television series Once Upon a Time episode "Skin Deep". The episode itself also stars many characters from the film. * Julie Andrews was considered for the voice of Mrs. Potts. However, she passed as she did not want to be typecast. * In Descendants: Isle of the Lost, Mrs. Potts is mentioned to still be around despite 20 years passing. * The only time her lid was removed intentionally was in The Enchanted Christmas. Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Heroines Category:Humans Category:Anthropomorphic characters Category:Caucasian Category:European Category:French Category:Blue Eyes Category:White Hair Category:Beauty and the Beast Category:Beauty and the Beast characters Category:Disney characters Category:Traditionally animated characters Category:British